Africa in Namibia (ERCA) adopted the Belhar Confession in 1997 and in so doing became the first non-South African Church which adopted the Belhar Confession. Apart from the URCSA, the Belhar Confession was also adopted by the United Protestant Church in Belgium in 1998. The Reformed Church in America (RCA) adopted the Belhar Confession as a fourth Standard of Unity (or confession; alongside the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort) at its 2010 meeting of the General Synod, having adopted it provisionally in 2007. The 2009 Synod of the Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA) proposed to the 2012 Synod that the Belhar Confession be adopted as their fourth confession of faith. Instead, the CRCNA created a new, less-binding category for the Belhar, and adopted it as an "Ecumenical Faith Declaration" During CRCNA's Synod 2017, the church recategorized the Belhar Confession as a "Contemporary Testimony". The confession was also instrumental in the RCA's efforts to found the Reformed Church in the Dominican Republic. The Presbyterian Church (USA) has added the Belhar Confession to its Book of Confessions. In 2014, the denomination's 221st General Assembly submitted the proposal to the denomination's 171 presbyteries for ratification. The required 2/3 approval having been received, the final step was a vote at the 222nd General Assembly (2016) meeting June 18–25 in Portland, Oregon. The Belhar Confession was adopted at the 222nd General Assembly on June 22, 2016 by an overwhelming 540-33 vote in favor of acceptance. See also Accra Confession References External links One English translation of the Belhar Confession Original Afrikaans text of the confession Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa Presbyterian Mission Agency: The Belhar Confession Protestantism in South Africa Reformed confessions of faith 1982 in Christianity 1982 documents 20th-century Calvinism 20th-century Christian texts